In his final individual WOC
competition before retiring, Frenchman Thierry Gueorgiou ran a
near-perfect race to take his 8th Middle Distance title at Nokian
Tyres World Orienteering Championships.
This was a fantastic performance by
Gueorgiou, once known as the ‘King of Middle Distance’ because of
his string of victories in this format, the last being in 2011.
Today’s is his 14th WOC gold; he also won the Long Distance three
years in succession, 2013-5. Gueorgiou had some close challengers
today but none were able to keep to his technical accuracy which he
maintained throughout; he also showed that he has not lost a lot in
speed over the years.
Gueorgiou described the day as being
very tough emotionally. He has prepared only for this race this year,
not competing in any other international race. “This is a dream
coming true,” he said at the end, “I wanted to finish on top.”
Silver medal went to Fabian Hertner,
Switzerland, who was close to Gueorgiou’s time until he made an
error on the short leg to control 17. Oleksandr Kratov, Ukraine ran a
very consistent race, just a shade off the pace but good enough for
the bronze medal today. Defending champion Matthias Kyburz made
mistakes on the course and ended 1.54 down. Norway had all their
athletes in the top ten in the results, but out of the podium
placings.
Johan Runesson, Sweden had a great run
too but had to settle for fourth place, with Sprint champion Daniel
Hubmann in fifth. The forest was very detailed and with quite low
visibility in places, so mistakes were common.
“It is difficult
to compare the medals and I have won many medals in Middle, it is my
favourite distance,” said Gueorgiou. “This medal is very special
and of course when you become a world champion for the first time it
is a life changer. And for me also the Relay medal with my team-mates
was special. My plan was to stay focused for the whole race, but also
to smile and enjoy the moment.” And that he most certainly did,
along with his many friends and admirers throughout the world of
orienteering.
WOC 2017 website:
www.woc2017.ee.
[Press release from
the International Orienteering Federation 2017-07-06. Photo: Matias
Salonen, IOF Digital Team]
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